Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Kickball and Some Memories of My Childhood

I haven't played kickball with my children since last summer, that is, until tonight. My son's pack meeting tonight included a game of kickball. I had never played it with my toddler. My two older children were on the opposite team. My two younger children were on my team.

Last summer we thought we were going to be in a kickball tournament back east. It would have been a lot of fun, but it wasn't meant to be. The tournament was the day before my brother and my sister, her husband and son were moving west. There was just going to be too much to do. Before we figured that out, we had several practice session. It was a lot of fun.

Tonight was fun as well. We enjoyed playing with the other members of the cub scouts and their parents and families. There were a lot of young children. I think it was wonderful to play kickball with everyone. It really was a lot of fun.

I was impressed with how well my ten year-old could kick the ball. He did really good. My other two children did really well too. I think I need to go down there and play kickball with them. It reminded me of growing up and playing kickball all the time in our backyard.

Our backyard consisted of three backyards. I would say it was a good 45 yards across. There were not fences between our yard and the next two neighbors yards for years. I think they went up after I graduated from high school. We spent hours, upon hours, playing kickball. My dad would pitch to both teams. Neighbors would all come over. There was a little cherry tree that didn't have a chance in the neighbor's yard. I think we even used it as a base every now and again.

We also had a great volleyball net. We could play a full size court since there wasn't a fence. It seems like when we weren't playing kickball, hide and go seek, or swimming, we would be playing badminton or volleyball. We knew all the kids that lived within a block or two. These days, it seems like children don't even know who lives next door.

Sadly, the children of this generation seem to be growing up in a day of electronics. I have to admit that my children play online or on their Nintendo DS's also. I need to be more diligent and get outside with them. I do go running, and they come with me and play at the park. I make sure that the spend time outside. I enjoy when they have friends come over. I want them to have that kind of interaction that I had growing up.

I imagine that if we take the time to go to the park at the corner and bring a ball and bases, other children will join. I think it will be a fun way to get to know the other children in the area.

Thank you to the Cub Scout leaders who thought of this activity. It reminded me of the fun I had as a child and it has encouraged me to share that with my children.